Standing Tall

by Crorey Lawton

So few places where men stand together, shoulder to shoulder, Jim mused from his place in the line. The football field, where teammates stand, shoulders touching, intent on keeping the ball from going into the net; the battlefield, where countrymen stand together to defend their homes against invaders. The bar, where guys watch the game wordlessly, arms draped around one another, hoping, hoping. Camaraderie, closeness, bonding: where did it all go? Seems as though it both started and stopped with the game of Red Rover: somewhere, we stopped standing in broad lines and started queuing, moving forward, moving upward one at a time, alone, solo, self. Somehow we lost the idea of being a part of a group, he thought as he stepped away from the urinal; one step later he was replaced, and Jim washed his hands and was gone.

6S

Crorey Lawton builds levees and digs mounds. You can read a journal of his project in Guatemala here.